AN: Ok, first I made changes to Red's war record, it made him older than I pictured him to have served in WWII. But this is a show that had most of the characters as juniors in high school for 4 seasons, timelines for this show can be tricky. There are only a few more chapters to write for this story I hope to have it done before I leave on vacation.

Rocket Man

The flurry of activity for the next two weeks leading up to Eric leaving for basic training. Jackie and Steven where settling into their new home and starting some of the wedding planning. Donna still didn't know what she was going to do, but she figured she would wait till after the wedding then go visit her mom and figure out from there. It was strange looking at Eric being gone again, he would be back at Christmas till New Years and then be gone again, only this time there was no telling where he was going or when he would be back. They were broken up, so she didn't understand why her heart hurt like it did at him leaving. She kept telling herself it was because he was still her friend, and they had been friend since they were kids.

The day before Eric left she was at the mall shopping with Jackie, her strength and energy seemed to be back at full force. Hyde had given her strict orders for Jackie not to carry anything. Jackie had noticed Donna seemed to be lost in thought as they were walking in the mall.

"Donna are you OK, you seem out of it today, I know shopping isn't one of your favorite things to do, but you seem more out of it than normal." Just then someone was in her sights she hoped she never would see again, "Michael"

Donna jerked up at the name, and saw him in his uniform walking the mall. "Kelso, what do you think you are doing?"

"Look I know you both don't want to see me, I just, Jackie I am sorry I should have taken the hint the first time you told me to go away. I lost all rights to your life when I left, actually probably months before that. I should have been lucky that you would still talk to me and be my friend after everything I did to you. I am sorry, I understand if you never want contact with me but I still want you and Hyde in Betsey's life, I hope that doesn't change."

"Michael I have forgiven you for a lot of crap over the years, and I think that is why you kept doing stuff because no matter what I would forgive you, but I can't forgive you for this. Brook has become a dear friend when I needed her the most, I love Betsey, but I can't forgive you. I know Steven can't forgive you this time either. We are getting married in a few weeks, Betsey is going to be in the wedding, but I cannot ask you to be there."

"I understand, well I am working with the police department patrolling the mall now, so I need to get back to it."

The girls walked over to the food court and took a seat at a table, "It's all changing isn't it?" Donna asked.

"I guess so, I mean we have to grow up and move on sometime right?"

"Yea, I just I don't know, thought it would always be the six of us. None of us really want to talk to Kelso anymore, Eric is leaving for the navy. I am going to go visit my mom and see where I am going to go from there."

"Donna is that all that is bothering you?"

"Jackie will you think it is crazy that I think I am still in love with Eric and it is breaking my heart he's leaving?"

"No I don't, I think that maybe you guys need a break from each other to find yourselves, but that you'll find your way back to each other"

"Jackie what about we can't stay friends and all that because it will mess with future relationships with other people?

"You guys have so much more than that if you feel this way, it's a love that isn't going to die, at least not quickly and maybe it shouldn't. Donna you have plenty of time to find yourself and settle down, you could still go to college and all that."

Donna looked at the girl that was suggesting she take her time, this is not the same girl that was so wrapped up with her wedding plans a year ago. The same girl that was in the process of her own wedding plans. "So why are you not taking the same advice? Donna even if your parents were twisted and got divorced, you had a family growing up, you still do. You are going to visit your mom that will love you and dote on you. I never had that, Steven hasn't had that except at the Foreman's. We need each other, we need to be a family and give each other what we never had growing up. I did good in school, but I just never felt like going to college. I know it goes all against your feminist views, but all I have really ever wanted to be was a wife and mother." The mother part was said so soft it was almost inaudible.

Donna reached for Jackie's hand, "Jackie you are going to be a great mother one day, and you keep up with cooking lessons with Kitty you are going to be a great wife, no one is a better match of Hyde than you. I understand, not everyone is made to be the same and I can't look down on you if you stay home. We each have to find your own path. Just make sure you take time to think about me"

"Donna you have been my best friend for years, you are going to be my maid of honor, you are always going to have a place in Steven and mine lives."

"I guess I have been so confused and worried, that the Foreman's are like Hyde's parents and Eric is like his brother, I just I don't know scared that if we weren't together that eventually it would come down to choosing between Eric and I, and that you both would choose Eric. Donna we didn't choose one over the other when you guys broke up over the promise ring, even when you two fought over us, that was sweet by the way. It was a little different after the non-wedding, Steven stayed more neutral than I did, but I think he is close to the both of you he saw both sides. I was only mad at you for pushing Steven off the water tower"

"You know I didn't mean to!"

"Come on, I think I am done for the day. I feel like I need a nap"

"Are you sure you are OK? I would think that by now you would have more energy."

"I think running into Michael just was a little too much, I know I need to tell Steven about running into him, but I just don't feel like dealing with it right now."

"Jackie why don't I talk to him, he needs to know, but I understand you not up to talking to him about it."

"Thanks Donna"

"Let's get you home."

When they got back to the house Jackie went to lay down in her bedroom, Donna sat on the couch and waited for Hyde to come home and watched TV.

A little while later Hyde walked into the house, "Hey Donna where's Jackie?"

"She went to lay down, we got back about an hour ago."

"Is she OK? Why are you sitting here like you are waiting for me or something?" His gut was telling him something was wrong.

"Jackie's fine, but just tired. Sit down, I do need to tell you that we ran into Kelso at the mall today."

"Did he seriously approach you guys after everything?" He started to feel his blood boil.

"Yea, he is covering the mall for security. He saw us and came up to apologize for what he did, look he asked that you guys still remain in Betsey's life, but he understood if you didn't want to have anything to do with him."

"Why are you telling me this and not Jackie, was she planning on keeping this from me?"

"No we talked and I offered to tell you, she was scared to see him and I think that and our conversation after that drained her emotionally for the day, she didn't have it in her for another serious conversation. She knew you needed to know, but she just got so tired, I've checked on her and she fell asleep almost as soon as she laid down."

"She didn't want to deal with how I would react did she?"

"Possibly, you don't have the best track record for dealing with Kelso rationally. And look I didn't help later we sat down and talked about how everything is changing and such and the six of us going our separate ways, I am going to visit my mom after the first of the year. It is just going to be to strange around here without Eric."

"Yea I always thought you two were the end game"

"Well Jackie and I were talking and she said that maybe we need to find ourselves first then find our way back to each other, who knows. It was a deep discussion to be having at the food court of the mall." Donna looked up at him, "Please don't be upset with her, we were having such a great time and then we run into him."

"Do you think I should ever get to a point that I would forgive him for everything he has done?"

"I don't know, maybe down the road once he has proven he has grown up, but I don't know. I talked to Eric the other day he was talking about his mom throwing him a party before he leaves and he said it was strange but he knew he couldn't invite Kelso, because lines have been possibly drawn and if anything he had to stand by you."

"It's my fault, if I had just manned up to begin with then maybe we could have all remained friends, maybe Jackie wouldn't have lost the baby."

"Hyde you can't blame yourself for that, you really never know for sure. Kelso was bound to do something stupid. Jackie could have lost the baby had she never left. You can't beat yourself up with the what ifs. You have a wedding and a life together to look forward to, concentrate on that."

"Thanks, I don't know what we are going to do with you and Foreman gone. You realize you are leaving us with Fez?"

"HA, yea well you have that basement, maybe Red will let you have your old cot and you can put him in a room down there. Jackie could have her own live in hair stylist."

"Um no, I already know he is going to be over here enough, not going to let him live in my basement."

"Yea save that space for when you have teenage kids and their friends to hangout in."

"I am going to wake up one day and realize I am Red Foreman aren't I?"

"Probably, but in all out of all our dads, I think I'd pick Red out of all of them."

Hyde thought about it, even with WB thrown in the mix who had proven to be a pretty cool dad, he'd still pick Red out of all of them. Definitely over Jack and Bob and Kelso's dad.

"Hey I need to get home, tell Jackie if she needs anything to let me know."

"Thanks for everything, I understand her not wanting to talk to me about it, we have a bad history of fighting when Kelso is brought up."

After Donna left Hyde went up to check on Jackie, she found her stirring in her sleep. "Jacks, you waking up?"

All he got in answer was mumbles. Then a pair of mismatched eyes was looking at him. "Hey" she said as she began to stretch.

"You have a good nap?"

"Yea, shopping never has wore me out before, I don't know why it did today."

"Donna told me about who you guys ran into today, sounds like there was a lot more than just shopping to wear on you."

"God I had hoped never to see him again, but we do live in one of the smallest towns around."

"We never talked about it, did you want to stay in Point Place, or did you want to go to Chicago, both of us?"

"Steven the reasons I went to Chicago was because I needed a job and if we were over I couldn't stay here, it is bad enough running into Michael, but for different reasons it would be bad to see you around"

"What was the difference?"

"Michael just he's there always there, of course now I see him and I am so upset about everything he did to me. But to see you would just cause my heart to break each time. So I didn't think I could stay. I never wanted to really leave, leave you, the Foremans, Donna, Bob, Fez, even Eric though I thought he had left. Going to Chicago was leaving the closest thing to family I had."

"You are happy here though?"

"Yea, I mean I guess eventually I'll get used to seeing Michael around town. But I do love Betsey and for that I am thankful to have her in our lives. We found her the perfect dress today."

"Well you get Brook and Betsey and that is the better end of the deal anyway, Brook has been a pretty good friend, and I hate to point out but you don't have that may friends that are girls."

"Well most of the girls I hung out with in high school are selfish rich princesses," She noticed Steven raise an eyebrow, "that never grew out of that role"

He couldn't help but laugh, "And you definitely did."

"Well I had this great guy show me there was more to life than being a spoiled princess"

"I guess I need to find this guy and thank him"

"Well there is a mirror right over there."

They both looked at the mirror across the room, "Now that is a hot couple"

"I'd go as far as the hottest couple in Point Place"

"You just might be right Grasshopper"

It wasn't long till they all found themselves at Eric's going away party, Brook and Betsey had even came up and stayed with Jackie and Hyde. It was a different than any of the other parties over the years, this one had no pretense of being a surprise party. This seemed off, and everyone knew why, Kelso wasn't there. And there was no romantic going away present from Donna. Eric found himself escaping his own party, he knew he would be back in six weeks but then he would be leaving again. The next party would be a wedding for Jackie and Hyde, he would be there to stand by his best friend and then he was off on his next step. He knew what he was going to aim for, but he wanted to keep to himself until he passed his tests and got the acceptance for the training he wanted to do. He wasn't sure how long he would stay in, and though he wanted to keep his roots in Point Place now he wasn't sure when he would find his way back here. There was also a certain girl that he still loved but wasn't sure where their paths would lead. He sat on the hood of the Vista Cruiser like he had so many times before, staring at the sky above. Who would think that the boy that became obsessed with Star Wars and loved staring at the skies would get the chance to fly, he knew he was jumping ahead of himself but he was hoping the next step would lead to naval flight training. Talking to the recruiter about the aircraft carriers and jets that the navy had, he never thought he could actually learn to fly himself, but so far it was looking good for him, he just had to get past boot camp first. He didn't hear the sliding door open or Donna step out.

"Hey you left your own party"

"Yea, wanted to spend one last time laying here looking at the sky over Point Place before I leave tomorrow."

Without giving much thought he scooted over for Donna to join him.

"You seem lost in thought, are you sure this is what you want to do? What if you get sea sick?"

"Well they say you really don't feel the movements of the water on the aircraft carriers."

"So you know you are going to be on one of them?"

"That is my aim, but I guess I'll see how boot camp goes. I will know more when I am done."

"I am going to miss you, I talked to Jackie a few weeks ago I am going to go visit my mom out in California and think about my next step."

"Well don't ride there with Kelso, and I am sorry I won't be able to come get you to bring you home this time."

"Yea that summer I kept seeing people that would remind me of you, then there you were." She turned and looked at him, "You just be careful out there"

"I'll try, I guess I need to get to my room, I have a few things I need to finish packing."

Eric walked into his room one last time, he would sleep here one more night and then this really wouldn't be his room anymore. He looked at his GI Joes, and started packing them up. But when he came across the GI Joe Navy Blue Angel action figure he looked at it and sat it to the side. Boxed up all his other action figures, the Star Wars collection, his posters was taken off the walls and rolled up. His room looked bare, he hoped he could at least store the boxes in Hyde's old room. He sat down and picked up the on GI Joe he couldn't pack, he wondered if maybe he could do it, maybe not a Blue Angel but to at least be a pilot, he didn't know what his family and friends would think. He wasn't sure if he would be able to do it, there was a lot standing between him and that goal.

Red walked in and saw Eric holding a GI Joe doll, "I was hoping that you had grown out of playing with those things."

"I boxed most of them up, just wanted to keep this one out" he handed it to Red.

Red took the doll and looked at it, he recognized the uniform and all, "A Blue Angel?"

"Yea, not all the GI Joes are Army, it seems to cover most of the military branches, I even have a Navy Seal"

"So why not this one?"

"Can you keep a secret?"

Red just looked at him

"Just say this one is my inspiration, you know I could never be a Seal, but I don't know, the thought of being able to fly. I don't know if that is what I will end up doing for sure, there are a lot of steps and the first one is getting through boot camp and qualifying for flight school. I just want to know I get in before I let everyone know my plans. Most of my plans never work out."

"I know I don't say it really ever, but I am proud of you, I think you are finally getting on the right track. I just never wanted you stuck here working a factory job that could close at any moment."

"Do you regret your life? I mean do you wish you would have stayed in the navy?"

"At times I have wondered what my life would have been like had I not gotten out. But your mom was never one to be on the move, I couldn't see her moving from base to base. And despite it all I couldn't see myself not being around to watch you and your sister grow up."

Eric looked at his dad, it was true he was always there growing up, he tried to teach him sports and other things, it just never worked. His other friends well Kelso's dad was always working and well Hyde was another story completely.

"Dad I know I don't act grateful, but thanks for always being there"

"Well I was even there when you weren't, like your high school graduation"

"OK, so make sure you are there when I graduate basic, I promise I won't miss that."

Red handed the GI Joe back to Eric and started to walk to the door. "Good night son, and we never had this conversation"

"What conversation?" Eric looked up at his dad, "Thanks and good night"